HOOVER, Alabama - An elevated car inside the garage at Tameron Honda went up in flames this morning.

An employee arriving at work spotted the blaze. Hoover firefighters were called to the business at 1675 Montgomery Highway about 5:20 a.m., said Lt. Rusty Lowe.

When they arrived on the scene about two minutes later, firefighters had to force entry into the shop. The car was up on a jack, and fully involved in fire, Lowe said. Firefighters had to lower the car, and then put out the fire. It took about four to five minutes to extinguish the blaze, and about 30 minutes to clear out the smoke.

Lowe said fortunately there was only minimal damage to the ceiling of the business, and perhaps some smoke damage to a few other cars.

It was fortunate the employee caught it when he did and that there weren't many cars nearby. "There wasn't a whole lot of opportunity for it to spread," he said.